Vladimir Putin ‘still uses obsolete Windows XP’ despite hacking risk | Russia

Russian agents have been accused of worldwide hacking operations, but an individual at the Kremlin has seemingly neglected to tell Vladimir Putin of the worth of cyber-protection.

Putin, 67, seems to have the out of date Microsoft Home windows XP functioning program installed on pcs in his office environment at the Kremlin and at his official Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, in accordance to images unveiled by his push assistance.

Equally computer systems have the Kremlin towers set as their desktop backgrounds.

Microsoft stopped releasing typical protection updates for Home windows XP and Office 2003 in April 2014. However, it appears that Russian govt regulations have prevented Putin from updating to the far more modern Microsoft 10.

The US tech firm warns on its internet site that computers running Home windows XP are “vulnerable to security risks and viruses”.

Windows XP, unveiled in 2001, was the previous Microsoft operating system given the green mild for use on formal Russian authorities desktops, the Open Media web site noted, citing defence ministry documents. The more recent Home windows 10 is only authorized for gadgets that do not have condition secrets and techniques – anything that would not feel to apply to Putin’s desktops.

Open up Media – an opposition-welcoming, unbiased Russian news site – described that Mikhail Klimaryov, the head of Russia’s impartial World-wide-web Security Society, experienced confirmed that Putin’s pcs had been managing Home windows XP in the images.

Moscow is step by step phasing out Microsoft and Google on authorities computers in favour of Russia’s Astra Linux running program computer software and domestic browsers this kind of as Yandex.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, did not comment when requested why Putin carries on to use an antiquated Microsoft functioning process.

It’s unclear how great a risk Putin’s use of Home windows XP poses to Kremlin cyber safety: the ex-KGB officer is said to be an irregular user of the net, which he has earlier called a “CIA project”. The predecessor of the online was the Arpanet, which was started by the US Department of Defense.

Russia is progressively searching for to create management in excess of web engineering. The Kremlin lately banned the sale of smartphones without the need of Russian-designed apps, whilst Putin in February approved a legislation supplying Moscow the electric power to “disconnect” the country from the international web.